Articles Posted inOrange County

The man filed a complaint Nov. 28 in Orange County Circuit Court against Dollar Tree Store Inc., doing business as Dollar Tree, alleging the retail store failed to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition.

According to the complaint, on Feb. 11, 2017, the man was a lawful business invitee at Dollar Tree’s store at 4568 S. Semoran Blvd Orlando. The suit says the man slipped and fell on a liquid substance on the floor.

As a result, the man says, he sustained bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, loss of ability to earn money, plus medical and treatment expenses.

The man alleges Dollar Tree failed to inspect its floors to ascertain whether it is safe for customers and failed to warn customers of the danger of the liquid substance on the floor.

The man seeks trial by jury, damages in excess of $15,000, interest and court costs.

In order to prove negligence in a slip and fall injury claim, two questions must be answered. First, it must be determined what caused you to fall. The second question is how what caused you to fall got there, and if anyone knew about the problem. This can be more difficult to uncover, but certainly not impossible.

If you suffered significant injuries in a slip and fall accident at a business as a result of negligence, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit to seek financial compensation for the harm you suffered. Slip and fall lawsuits help injury victims recover the costs to pay for medical bills, any lost earnings, disfigurement, emotional distress or permanent physical disability suffered as a result of the property owner’s negligence.

An Orange County woman is suing McDonald’s, alleging failure to properly secure the lid of a hot coffee cup that led to injuries.

The woman filed a complaint Nov. 6 in Orange County Circuit Court against McDonald’s Restaurants of Florida Inc., alleging failure to exercise reasonable care for the safety of customers.

According to the complaint, on Nov. 1. 2016, the woman was at the drive-through at McDonald’s when an employee handed her a cup of hot coffee. As she took a sip of the coffee, she said, the lid was not properly secured, and the hot coffee spilled onto her.

As a result, the woman says she sustained physical injuries, mental anguish, loss of earnings and incurred medical expenses.

The woman alleges the McDonald’s employee failed to adequately secure the lid on the coffee cup, thus creating a hazardous condition to its customers when handing them hot coffee.

If certain details of this case sound familiar, you are probably thinking of the most famous case of a coffee-related burn lawsuit where a New Mexico woman successfully sued McDonald’s for over $2.8 million after suffering serious burns from a 190 degree cup of coffee. That judgement was later reduced to just over $600,000 before a confidential settlement was reached between the two parties.

The woman filed a complaint on Aug. 3 in the Orange County Circuit Court, alleging that the Disney failed to follow applicable safety guidelines and regulations.

According to the complaint, the woman alleges that she was a guest at the amusement park on May 3, 2016 when she fell due to a broken and defective sidewalk. The woman claims that she suffered disability, mental anguish and incurred medical expenses as a result of the fall.

She holds Disney responsible for allegedly failing to properly inspect the property, maintain its sidewalk and warn guests of the dangerous conditions.

Property owners have an obligation to keep their properties safe from unreasonably dangerous conditions such as defective sidewalks, uneven steps, and even spills on the floor. However, all too often people are injured on another person’s property because of an unsafe condition that the owner knew about and failed to repair.

Our Florida Premises Liability Lawyers at Whittel & Melton can help you if you have been injured on another person’s property. We will investigate your injury to help determine the cause, and help you pursue compensation for your injuries.

The work by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin-Madison also identifies the safest and most dangerous metropolitan regions for pedestrians and bicyclists in the U.S.

Using improved travel data, the study calculated the rates of fatalities for walkers and bicyclists in 46 American regions with populations greater than one million.

The safest regions identified by the meta-analysis were:

Walking

Chicago

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Minneapolis

New York City

Portland

San Francisco

Seattle

Bicycling

Portland

The most dangerous regions were:

Walking

Houston

Jacksonville

Miami

Orlando

San Antonio

Tampa

Bicycling

Jacksonville

New York City

Orlando

Tampa

West Palm Beach

The study uses data from the National Household Travel Survey, which includes work, recreational, shopping, school and social trips, so it goes beyond the “journey-to-work” data collected by the U.S. Census.

Analysis of all 46 regions also provided support for the “safety in numbers” hypothesis: More pedestrian and bicyclist traffic overall is related to lower crash risk for each person walking and bicycling.

The woman filed a complaint on June 23 alleging that the property owner failed to provide a safe environment for her tenants.

According to the complaint, the tenant alleges that she suffered a severe injury to her left fibula on Oct. 5, 2014, which allegedly necessitated two months of orthopedic exercises, one year of disability for a year, and caused her to be unable to work. The tenant claims that the injury was caused when she struck tree roots and a mole hole due to the alleged poor lighting and maintenance of the lawn.

The tenant holds the property owner responsible for allegedly failing to warn her about the existing dangers of the premises, maintain and supervise the premises where the accident occurred and for allegedly allowing a dangerous condition to exist.

Property owners are responsible to adequately operate, manage, maintain and supervise their property to protect tenants and others from risk of harm. However, when property owners fail to maintain a safe environment for that results in serious injuries, they may be held liable for negligence.

The time following an accident can be a difficult and confusing time for injury victims. Our Florida Premises Liability Lawyers at Whittel & Melton understand this and work closely with clients through the legal process. We know you might be facing a lengthy recovery process and unable to work, which brings up the stress of paying your normal bills on top of medical bills and other accident-related losses. We can take care of your injury claim. If your accident was caused by your landlord’s careless or negligent behavior, we don’t think it is fair for you to be held responsible for paying somebody else’s mistakes.

The woman filed a complaint on June 21 in the Orange County Circuit Court, alleging that the business failed to provide a safe environment for its business invitees.

According to the complaint, the woman alleges that she was returning to her car on March 11, 2015 when she tripped and/or slipped on an uneven sidewalk on the business’ parking lot. As a result, she suffered bodily injury, pain and suffering, disability, mental anguish, an aggravation of a pre-existing condition, medical expenses and loss of earnings.

She holds the business responsible for allegedly failing to correct a dangerous condition and provide adequate signs that warned of the dangerous condition.

She is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

If you slipped in a parking lot, there are a number of questions our Florida Slip and Fall Accident Injury Lawyers will ask you to determine who is at-fault and whether you can be compensated, including the events leading up to your accident.

There were a total of 16 illnesses or injuries that required a hospital stay of 24 hours, according to the state’s quarterly report.

Walt Disney World reported 11 incidents, while Universal Orlando had four and SeaWorld Orlando had one.

The incidents ranged from seizures to back pain.The injuries and illnesses happened between April and June.

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a 31-year-old woman felt dizzy and lost consciousness on the park’s newest attraction, Flight of Passage. On June 12, a 79-year-old woman with a pre-existing condition also became ill after being on the ride.

An 81-year-old woman had motion sickness on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in April. An 18-year-old woman had a similar illness on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

A 54-year-old man reported a shock to his arm on Journey to Atlantis on June 15.

No incidents were reported by Legoland Florida or Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

An outing at Disney World, a county fair or any of the amusement parks around Florida should be a day filled with fun and excitement. However, an amusement park injury can turn a great day into a nightmare in just a matter of seconds.

If you have been injured at an amusement or theme park, it is very important for you to contact an experienced injury lawyer before signing any documents or making any statements to a park owner or representative. The park’s initial offer will not likely cover certain necessary damages, such as ongoing medical needs or future losses.

The woman filed a complaint on June 13 in the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida – Orange County against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts US Inc. alleging negligence.

According to the complaint, the woman alleges that on June 25, 2015, she was upon the Disney premises for the purpose of visiting the shops and restaurants when she tripped on a raised screwed and fell. She alleges she suffered bodily injury resulting in pain and suffering, disfigurement, mental anguish and aggravation of a previously existing condition.

She holds Walt Disney Parks and Resorts US Inc. responsible because they allowed a dangerous hazard to exist and failed to warn of the dangerous condition.

She is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

If you were injured in a trip and fall on someone else’s property, you may have the right to seek compensation for your injuries and other damages. This is an area of law called premises liability.

Under Florida law, property owners have a duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid injuries to visitors on their property. With that said, if a property owner’s negligent maintenance, operation or design of the property caused you to slip, trip and/or fall, the owner could be held liable.

Two key questions in any slip and fall case in Florida will be:

Was the property owner aware of the dangerous condition?

Was the hazard “open and obvious” so that you could have avoided it, thus preventing the slip, trip or fall?

The woman filed a complaint on March 20 in the Orange County Circuit Court against Wal-Mart alleging that its store failed to provide a reasonably safe environment for its patrons.

According to the complaint, the woman says that on May 21, 2016, she suffered bodily injury, disability, medical expenses, loss of earnings and aggravation of a previously existing condition resulting from the negligent action of an employee as he allowed a stack of tables to fall on her arm.

She holds Wal-Mart responsible because the store failed to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance, inspection, customer service or mode of operation of the premises.

The woman is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $15,000 together with interest and costs.

When you set foot inside a retail store you expect you will be provided with a reasonably safe shopping experience. In fact, retail stores are legally obligated to maintain safe premises. If you slip, trip, fall or suffer another type of injury in a retail store you may have a valid legal claim against the store for financial compensation.

Many retail store injuries can leave you emotionally traumatized and physically unable to work. When you are unable to work, your finances can wind up in complete disarray. If you have suffered due to the negligence of a retail store employer or owner, let our Florida Personal Injury Lawyers at Whittel & Melton help you obtain the compensation you need to move forward with your life.

Two patients were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center for dizziness but are in stable condition, according to reports.

The shopping plaza at Orange Blossom Trail and Holden Avenue was evacuated.

According to reports, a manager of a food store was chiseling away ice from a freezer containing fish when he hit a Freon line.

Hazmat crews responded to contain it. The Health Department and state fire marshal were called in.

No one ever wants to be involved in a gas leak situation. However, the truth is that these accidents happen, so it is best to be prepared. The following safety steps can be of help should a gas leak arise:

Alert everyone in the near vicinity and immediately get away from the gas odor.

Do not use any sources that may act as an ignition to a gas leak such as matches, vehicles, cell phones and flash lights until you move to a reasonable and safe distance away from the area.

The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send you free written information about our qualifications and experience. This web site is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice or the formation of a lawyer/client relationship. Whittel & Melton, LLC serves clients throughout the areas below, but also represents families in Clearwater, Dade City, Brooksville, Bronson, Trinity, Hudson, Wesley Chapel, Beverly Hills, Crystal River and The Villages.